Lubricating device for steam-engines



(No Model.)

A. CRAFT] Lubricating Device for Steam Engines.

, N o.v24| ,936.

1o ject is to so construct a lubricator -or oil-cup nicatin g directly with the tubular stem through U NITED .STATES PAmsLQrriCe ALFRED CRAFT, OF-NORRISTYOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

LUBRICATING DEVICE-FOR'STEAM-NGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,936, dated May 24, 1881.

Application filed April 22, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that l, ALFRED CRAFT, a citif zen of the United States, residing.;` in Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Lubricating Devices for Steam-Engines, Ste., of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the lubrication of the valves ot' steam-engines; and its main obthat its action Yshall be dependent upon the opening and closing ot' the throttle-valve of the engine.

Figure 1 in the accompanying drawings represents an oilcup by which my invention may be carried into etl'ect, Fig. 2 being a modified form of oil-cup.

It will be seen hereinafter that the construction of the cup may be varied without losing its functions of automatically discharging oil into the chest and excluding it therefrom in obedience to the opening and closing ot' the throttle-valve.

In Fig. 1 the tubular stemA of the` cup is threaded at its lower end for attachment to the steam-chest ot' the engine, and this stem is provided with a valve, a. To the upper end of the stem is attached an oilsreservoir, B, having a suitable outlet-opening, b, provided with a detachable plug, and having a discharge-cock, d. Above the reservoir B is a chamber, D, commua pipe or passage, e, Wh ich has no direct communication with the oil-reservoir B. Within the chamber D is another reservoir,E, which I will term the receiver,77 and this has a direct communication with the oil-reservoir through a contracted passage, h. A vent pipe or passage, G, extends from the oil-reservoir nearly to the top of the condenser H, the latter having a central opening, f, immediately above the receiver E.

Oil having been poured into the reservoirB through the inlet b, and the latter having been closed by its screw-plug, the valve a is opened, thereby permittin g steam from the chest of the engine, which we will suppose to be in motion,

to pass into the chamber D and condenser H, p

where a partial condensation of steam takes place, the water of condensation falling intopthe receiver E, taking its course through the contracted passage h, and iinding its way to the bottom of the oil-reservoir, and thus raising the oil in the vent-tube G. This goes on until the receiver E is filled with water and the oil rises in the vent-tube to a level with the Water in the said receiver E, after which no more water can find its Way into theoil-reservoir, for water will not exchange places with or displace the oil in the contracted passage h; hence all further water of condensation must overiow into the chamber D, and must pass thenceinto the valve-chest of the engine. This will be the condition of affairs when the throttle-valve is open and the engine is in motion; bat as soon as the throttle-valve is closed and the interior ot' the oil-cup is released from the pressure of steam (the engine still running) the waterin the receiver E will be instantly converted into steam, the oil in the venttube G will fall, and oil will ascend through the contracted passage h into the receiver E and partly ill the same. When the th rottle-valve is again opened steam will be admitted to the oil-cup, as before,condensation will take placein the cham ber H, and water will fall into the receiver E,

and, displacing the oil therein, Will cause it to pass into the chamber D, and thence to the steam-chest. The receiverE will be filled with the water ot' condensation and the oil will rise in the pipe G to a corresponding level prior to a repetition of the above-described operations, when steam is again shut che.

The quantity pf oil discharged on each closing of the throttle-valve can be regulated by properly proportioning the capacity of the receiver E in respect to that of the lower portion of the tube Gr.

The tube G serves two purposes: First, it causes the oil to maintain the same level as the Water, and, second, it serves the purpose of a vent-tube for the oil-reservoir B, without which the pulsations of steam in the chest, due to the action of the valve in respect to the ports oi' the cylinder, would cause such action in the contracted passage h as to detract from the uniformity of the above-described action.

1 claim as my inventionl. An oil-cup in which the following elements are combined, namely: rst, an oilres IGC ervoir; second, :L condenser communicating In testimonywhereofIhwesiguedmynmne with the steam-chest or steam pipe or space to this specification in the presence o' two subof n steam-engine; and, third, zireceiver for scribing witnesses.

the Water of condensation, the said receiver 5 communicating with the oil-reservoir through ALFRED CRAFT.

:i contracted passage, all substantially us set forth. Witnesses 2. The combination, in :u1 oil-cup, of the oi- J. VARREN SCHLICI-ITER, reservoir, condenser, and receiver with the WM. HAYWOOD.

zo veut-pipe G, as speoiiied. l 

